Mad Manatee Mentors CLOSED (Poptart/pet pic bribes?) (Page 57)

Interesting article about some research going on here at the university where I work.  One of our civil engineering professors is looking at why cyclists break traffic laws and whether it has to do with how our transportation systems are set up.  He's also interested in why cyclists are considered more criminal than people who speed in their cars.

Yes, it was an interesting article and makes you think about what really can be done to improve bicycle safety and driver perception of cycling behavior.  I leave in a small city where cycling for commuting and recreation is huge.  There is a downhill section through the downtown area that is three lanes and one way.  Every day I see folks weaving in and out of cars, running red lights, drafting inches off bumpers, passing on the right of cars signalling to turn right, etc.  It creates a dangerous situation for all involved.  I've seen at least half a dozen crashes.  One guy passed me on the right, turned his head to see if he was going to clear me, veered into the curb, and went cartwheeling down the sidewalk.  Couple days later I had a skateboarder splatter into the back of my car while I was waiting for a light.  Doh!!

While some obey the traffic laws, the majority do not.  Probably many different reasons why but I imagine mostly trying to just get from point A to point B as quickly as possible and not thinking about some of the short and long term consequences whether it is crashing or turning the driving world against them in general.

I think this from the article sends the wrong message.  I had a friend who was a very experienced cyclist killed several years ago rolling through a stop sign.

"According to Marshall, some states in the U.S. have created special laws as a result — in Idaho cyclists only need to slow down at stop signs, not come to a full stop, and cyclists can treat red lights as though they were stop signs."

[NOTE: the size of the bike in this case matters more than anything else.]

I'm riding a 9 speed rear cassette also.  I would really love a 10 or 11 speed.  For me, it's all RPM management.  My bike has a 10 RPM gap between the 4th and 5th gears.  I wish there was something in the middle that would help me manage the speed a bit better.  I spin on the higher side, and sometimes I want to go faster, but shifting up drops me out of where I am efficient.  So having another gear or two in the mix, even if the top and bottom didn't change, would help me manage my speed and power better.  It's not just on hills.  Most of all this is clearest to me on the trainer when I'm doing TrainerRoad workouts, and I'm moving around by 5 or 10 watts.  More gears would keep me in my happy spinning zone better.

I would love 11, but 10 would be fine.

Yeah the big gaps like that can bother me too. Not so much on the easier rides as I'm not as particular there, but I really notice when trying to go faster. I much prefer the 11-23 when racing vs the 11-28. There is a 15-17 jump that happens around the lower 20's for me and I really notice it. I *can* spin at a fairly wide cadence, but still have my preference for what is best. It's a race, so we want everything optimized as much as possible.

The trainer has an 11-21 to keep it really tight. This adds in an 18 that the 11-23 doesn't have, and for easier rides I can be in this gear a lot. I never used the lowest gears there, so tightened things up. Although I may rethink some things if I want to push some really fast cadences at times. Power can come up quite a bit for the fastest spins even in the lowest gear.

Yeah the big gaps like that can bother me too. Not so much on the easier rides as I'm not as particular there, but I really notice when trying to go faster. I much prefer the 11-23 when racing vs the 11-28. There is a 15-17 jump that happens around the lower 20's for me and I really notice it. I *can* spin at a fairly wide cadence, but still have my preference for what is best. It's a race, so we want everything optimized as much as possible.

The trainer has an 11-21 to keep it really tight. This adds in an 18 that the 11-23 doesn't have, and for easier rides I can be in this gear a lot. I never used the lowest gears there, so tightened things up. Although I may rethink some things if I want to push some really fast cadences at times. Power can come up quite a bit for the fastest spins even in the lowest gear.

The 12-23 is probably better for most. Are you doing more big gear work hat would warrant the 11? I was kind of lucky and found a Dura Ace 7600 series a couple years ago. My spin out tends to depend on how fast I feel like pushing it. I can keep up in the high 40's, but might back off somewhere before that. At those speeds the wind resistance is very high, so pedaling only adds a little bit. At 30 I'm still going at it though as I'll be up around 28 in flat straightaways. Gearing is very much matching up the person to the conditions.

Wow. My body is still a little rocked after the weekend's adventures. Every slow run I have done the week has been a struggle.

When my socks rolled down during the trail race there was a ton of friction on my heels and they got all bloody and blistered. As if that wasn't enough, the ascent in snowboard boots/splitboard ripped them open further. I have like, 4 band-aids and a steady reapplication of antibiotic in hopes I can get them healed up before we attempt St. Helen's this weekend. 

If they don't close up beforehand...any tips? Should I just tape them up? Because I think applying lube/anti-chafe would hurt if they are open still. 

Well to just know what you have, there should be a small number etched into each cog and each ring (the front set). At one time there was a set or two that etched some weird thing into the lowest 3 instead of printing in the number. But you can always just count the number of teeth too. Another good reason to keep stuff clean.   Writing out the cassette change tends to look way more complicated than it actually is.

Stacey, I had a big long post that I had typed up just get eaten by the internet gods. Ben put it much better. I don't often use Slowtwitch, but there are some good resources there. http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Cassette_Evolution_4171.html has some good info at the start of it that might help you understand some of what was being discussed.  

That's pretty awesome. I like the idea for my bikes! (I fixed the link)

Yeah the big gaps like that can bother me too. Not so much on the easier rides as I'm not as particular there, but I really notice when trying to go faster. I much prefer the 11-23 when racing vs the 11-28. There is a 15-17 jump that happens around the lower 20's for me and I really notice it. I *can* spin at a fairly wide cadence, but still have my preference for what is best. It's a race, so we want everything optimized as much as possible.

The trainer has an 11-21 to keep it really tight. This adds in an 18 that the 11-23 doesn't have, and for easier rides I can be in this gear a lot. I never used the lowest gears there, so tightened things up. Although I may rethink some things if I want to push some really fast cadences at times. Power can come up quite a bit for the fastest spins even in the lowest gear.

I rock an 11-28 for my Ultegra 11 speed, and I'm content with it.  I also rode an 11-28 on my SC, which was 10 speed.  I do notice the missing 16, but it doesn't really affect my rides.  I did consider switching to an 11-25 or something, but I'm told I'll need the 28 for my race in March.